The Trinity Apocalypse is an illuminated manuscript containing the Book of Revelation, a commentary on Revelation and a biographical sketch of Saint John. Produced in England around 1260,[1] or perhaps somewhat earlier, it is currently housed in Cambridge at Trinity College, for which it is named.[2]
The language of the text of the Trinity Apocalypse, including all its captions, is Anglo-Norman French.[3] The commentary is an abridged translation of the 9th-century Latin commentary by Berengaudus.[4] This particular abridgement is not found in any other manuscript.[5] The entire text of the manuscript is by the same scribe.[6]
The first section of the manuscript is a series of scenes from the life of Saint John with explanatory text. Revelation and a commentary follow. The final section is another series of scenes from the life of Saint John with explanatory text.[3] There is a total of thirty scenes from the life of John.[7] The explanatory text consists of titles, inscriptions within the pictures and a short two-paragraph text.[8] These texts are unique and were not copied from any known source, but the legendary life of John they portray is derived ultimately from the 2nd-century Acts of John via Pseudo-Abdias and the Legenda Aurea.[9]
In the illustrations of Revelation, the new mendicant orders, the Franciscans and Dominicans, are represented. They were seen as the fulfillment of the Two Witnesses prophecy of chapter 11.[6] Each of the Four Horsemen gets a miniature of its own,[10] as does each blast of the Seven Trumpets.[11]
The pictures on the final leaf of the manuscript are unfinished. They were executed by a different and inferior artist.[12]
The Trinity Apocalypse is a deluxe production for a patron of high rank. Internal evidence points to a laywoman with connections to the Franciscans. M. R. James suggested Henry III's queen, Eleanor of Provence, who was in England between 1236 and 1291.[13]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ O'Hear & O'Hear 2015, pp. 32–33.
- ^ James 1909, p. 24, gives a date range of 1230–1250.
- ^ a b James 1909, p. 14.
- ^ James 1909, p. 22.
- ^ James 1909, p. 23.
- ^ a b James 1909, p. 24.
- ^ James 1909, p. 14–15.
- ^ James 1909, p. 16.
- ^ James 1909, pp. 17–20.
- ^ O'Hear & O'Hear 2015, p. 97.
- ^ O'Hear & O'Hear 2015, p. 102.
- ^ James 1909, p. 19.
- ^ James 1909, p. 25.
Sources
[edit]- James, M. R., ed. (1909). The Trinity College Apocalypse: A Reproduction in Facsimile of the Manuscript R. 16. 2 in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. The Roxburghe Club.
- McKitterick, David, ed. (2005). The Trinity Apocalypse (Trinity College Cambridge, MS R.16.2). University of Toronto Press.
- O'Hear, Natasha; O'Hear, Anthony (2015). Picturing the Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation in the Arts over Two Millennia. Oxford University Press.
- Whatley, Laura J. (2018). "Crusading for (Heavenly) Jerusalem: A Noble Woman, Devotion, and the Trinity Apocalypse". In Elisa A. Foster; Julia Perratore; Steven Rozenski (eds.). Devotional Interaction in Medieval England and Its Afterlives. Brill. pp. 49–79.
External links
[edit]
- Trinity College Cambridge, MS R.16.2, The James Catalogue of Western Manuscripts (digitized manuscript)